Sunday, August 25, 2013

Silence of the lambs...

This appeared in Asian Age...

Murder Most Foul….

Certain ‘dastardly deeds’ ( how our netas
love these two words!) are just more ‘dastardly’ than others. The cold-blooded,
pre-meditated, daylight murder of a
legend called Dr.Narendra Dabholkar was one of them. It managed to shock the nation…. and as we are all aware, these
days it’s pretty difficult to shock India.We have become ‘violence proof’, as
it were. ‘‘Murders to the right of us, murders to the left of us…” One can also add, “Murders, murders
everywhere, not a culprit in sight.” Dr. Dabholkar was a towering figure, not
just in Maharashtra, but all over India. His influence reached beyond our
shores and included followers across the world…. people who endorsed and appreciated his
school of rational thinking, his progressive world view and his sustained
campaign against practitioners of black magic and jaadu tona. That he lived and
died for his firm beliefs is a testimony to his unshakeable commitment and
vision . Not only was Dr. Dabholkar a
respected rationalist, he was known for his strong views against casteism, and for
the support he extended to inter-religious marriages. Seen in the cultural context of a country
which has, for centuries,tolerated and accepted both, his was a particularly
courageous stand. Unsurprisingly, his movement had always attracted
powerful critics and staunch enemies out
to crush him.His life had been under threat for years. But, as he frequently
reminded concerned followers, he was a free man in his own country, and
unwillingly to ask for State protection against his own people. It was these
very people who pumped bullets into the 69- year- old visionary when he was enjoying
a morning walk in Pune. It is in the interests of the nation in general and Maharashtra’s
Chief Minister, Prithiviraj Chavan, in particular, to find Dr. Dabholkar’s
assassins as quickly as possible. Especially after the C.M. hinted he knew who
they were!

But
will that happen?

I think not.

Ironically, Dr.Dabholkar’s audacious murder( which was obviously a
meticulously planned political hit) has
manifold implications. The bogus haste to identify and punish his killers is
disingenuous at best. Justice plays no role in this bloody mess. The man who spearheaded
the Rationalist Movement in India, had enormous nuisance value for extremists
of all hues. He threatened the status quo and directly dented the multi- million dollar businesses of well
entrenched, well connected individuals running the God Industry in India . Most
ashrams with their dodgy religious
leaders are nothing more than fronts for politicians to launder ill-gotten wealth
while simultaneously nurturing armies of highly gullible followers.
The money at stake is enormous. But more than the unbelievable amount of
lolly involved, it is the inordinate
amount of influence exerted by some of
these fraudulent God People that politicians brazenly tap into. It’s a cosy if sinister
nexus that works for both – those venal netas and the wily God Guys. It’s a
fair exchange - money and votes, in
return for protection and cover ups. Most of the established ashrams operate in
a highly secretive, closed door fashion that does not permit closer scrutiny of
their funding or functioning. Dr. Dabholkar’s life long activism against
fraudulent religious practices , made
him a soft target. That there were forces out to destroy him, was known to
intelligence agencies all along. That nobody acted on the information, can be construed
as tacit complicity in this heinous crime.

Maharashtra’s C.M. is apparently keen on
getting into Madam’s good books in Delhi. Perhaps that’s what made him jump the gun and voice his suspicions about
the identity of the killers ( hint: it’s the same blackguards who murdered the
Mahatma!). What Shri Chavan ( who is known for his sobriety and restraint),
needs to be reminded about is that he may be playing with fire with this case .
We live in dangerous times. Every State is a tinder box, rife with issues that
can ignite passions in a flash. Every political party is in search of volatile subjects that can be instantly whipped up and served
hot to those interested in taking advantage of the mayhem that generally
follows.Throwing politics into the
bubbling, over heated religious cauldron in a country like ours, has terrifying
implications and repercussions. Intolerance and anarchy have become the rule. Dr.
Dabholkar was well aware of the danger to his life when he proposed a sensible
Bill to prevent and eradicate black magic, over 18 years ago. That the Maharashtra
government passed the ordinance in such unseemly haste, hours after he was
killed, is shameful. It’s worse still that the haste is being described as a
‘tribute’ to the iconic leader’s legacy, when it’s nothing more than a cheap
political trick aimed at appeasing the bosses in Delhi. Dr. Dabholkar would
have scoffed at the clumsiness of the gesture.

His funeral pyre had not even been lit when
strident and ugly voices tried to besmirch his name. It is not difficult to
figure out why this man was so hated. What his enemies could not stomach was
his contempt for them and their devious thinking. Dr. Dabholkar was not
anti-religion, he was anti-superstition. He despised humbug and pseudo
religious mumbo jumbo .That’s the difference. His killers were just hired
thugs. But so well planned was the attack, that the motorcycle hitmen managed
to get their target in two easy shots despite the close proximity of police
chowkies and a nakabandi on the same road. This also establishes the lax and
meaningless exercise we call policing in our state. Arresting and punishing the
killers has little meaning, unless the government is equally scrupulous about
investigating and revealing the identities of
the shadowy figures who hired the gunmen. But that will never happen.
There’s much too much at stake. Namely, big bucks and a comfy gaddi.

That catchy old classic ‘Black Magic Woman’
is ringing inside my head and has been haunting me ever since Dr. Dabholkar’s
martyrdom. It is tempting to say his enemy number one did jaadu tona on him and
succeeded in killing the one person who’d
spent his life fighting the peddlers of jaadu
tona! What a monumental irony. R.I.P.

Excellent article! We can't expect much from these bakvas netas who have surrendered themselves to babas & sadhus. Unless we have good education, we can not create a rational society and until then these rascals will thrive. It's pity that both the Chief Minister & joker Home Minister (gone in hiding) have expressed their inability to nab the culprits, who killed Dr.Narendra Dabholkar.

Like any other murder, this too will be forgotten in no time. After all, we, as a nation, are cursed with amnesia. Which is the reason crimes are being committed so brazenly.Add to that political interference and police corruption,and the recipe is truly complete!

I am not really sure how much more shame and ignominy, we as citizen of this beautiful yet not-so-perfect country will have to bear. This murder is a blatant slap on the core fundamentals of this country which allows every voice of reason to be heard in this country.

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Good day! After seeing your column in the Deccan Chronicle dated 24th August 'Silencing the rationalist', I wanted to congratulate you for giving the real picture of India in words! But I could not do immediately though I sent a letter of appreciation to the DC which they have published and they found it worthy of a prize as best letter of the week. If the letter itself is worthy of a prize, how much the article, the source of that letter!

I myself do write Articles. I was Columnist in one of the Telugu Newspapers. I have published eight books - two anthologies of poetry, one anthology of short stories, one anthology of plays which got an award, one anthology of columns, one travelogue. I have edited one anthology of poetry by the Telugu poets which I have invited after Hyderabad experienced two bomb blasts in August 2007.

Shobha ji, the words can't express how much I loved your article. I congratulate you for each and every letter of that column. Only those who love this country and the people can talk of the facts happening every second on this land. Below is the letter which I have written to the DC and they published it on the 27th of August.

Letters to the Editor, DC

Alas, India!

Dear Sir

Shobha De’s every letter reflects Indian system (Silencing the rationalist, Aug 24th). The Sun never sets on Indian horizon without making Indians feel shy of their deeds! What heinous state of affairs we come across daily – people in the shape of human beings gluttonously commit crimes. Rationalists, reformists, honest workers are killed, while criminals are enthroned, celebrated and worshipped as gods. India is a vast wild forest where only jungle law rules – might is the right, cruelty and crookedity prevail! The governments and the laws don’t exist.

India does not deserve Dabholkars, Graham Steins, they are killed, burnt alive, because they bring light into the darkened lives, which the forces of night can’t bear. Not only Maharashtra’s CM, every Indian knows who are the culprits, back stage managers of the dastard act. By passing the ordinance immediately after the murder the government proved its cowardice of 18 years or hundreds of years for that matter. Alas, at last they did! This becomes a real tribute to the legend Dabholkar only when the ordinance is implemented in letter and spirit.

Will India ever get rid of the ghastly superstitions including casteism perpetuated in the name of religion only to safe guard the multimillion dollar “god industry” business – the altar on which the nation as a whole is sacrificed?

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